I do think that if you buy something new, you are much more likely to just have monthly mortgage costs, which makes the whole things less scary, IMO.

Yeah, I'm thinking the new ones would also be cheaper or offer signing bonuses to offset the cost.

P-C, my brother is a FANTASTIC, very knowledgeable mortgage broker. I would be happy to send you his contact info. He'll talk everything through with you...and I'll tell him he better be good to you, or I'll kick his ass.

vw, that would be AWESOME. I'd really appreciate that. I keep going back and forth on this, because while I know it would be a good investment, I'm scared of dealing with all the stress and debt and such. Also, I really like the location I'm living in right now, geographically.

As a rule of thumb, if you can get your housing budget to ~25% of your gross income, you'll be doing well. In that you want to include rent/mortage payments, HOA fees, utilities, and an estimate of repairs/maintenance (if you are responsible for them).

Hm, thanks. It looks 25% of my gross income is about what I was guessing. It just freaks me out that it becomes so much more of my net income, and I would be putting much less into savings.

Since you are young you could go a little higher and assume that you will be earning more in the future, but that's a little risky, and you don't want to do that and also take one of those loans that has low payments for a while and then increases after 5 or 10 years. One or the other, maybe, but not both.

Well, the latter sounds decent, if I'm thinking of ditching it in five years anyway, right?

Owning property will decrease your tax load, remember, which should allow you to bring home more money.

I don't know how this works.

P-C, insent shortly.

PC, do you think you'd really live there for five years? If you think you might move out of town in two, then it might not be as likely to make you enough money to be worth it. But five, you're probably fine.

Yay bike for juliana. YAY baby heartbeat for Stephanie! There was some other yay in there, but I forget it. BOO Sparky's employers.

Yay Stephanie!

PC, do you think you'd really live there for five years? If you think you might move out of town in two, then it might not be as likely to make you enough money to be worth it. But five, you're probably fine.

Yeah, that's the other big issue. I'm much more confident about being here for two or three years at least. I like the area, though, and could find another job here pretty easily if I needed to, I think. But I don't know. Maybe I'd feel stupid if I do stay for five years and hadn't done it.

Also P-C consider that nationwide we are at the peak of a deflating real estate bubble. Of course real estate is a very local thing; so maybe your area is immune. Also even if there is downturn, owning property tends to make money in the long run. Still - take into consideration; it really is not a good idea to buy in an area you are likely to move from. Even without the bubble as was said above you need to stay at least five years to get your upfront costs back; could be longer if there is a downturn.

I have no faith in any of our bridges, and hate that I have to travel over one on a regular basis. Well, that's not true. I-90 is actually new enough that I think it's okay. 520 is, however, not, and it wouldn't take a huge quake to kill it. A sudden major windstorm would be enough.

Also, I avoid the Viaduct like the plague, and have been scared of it since 1989 and the SF quake.

I wouldn't buy anywhere as a starter right now. I'd only buy if you plan on being in a place for at least a decade.

P-C, I don't know if Val's bro is local to the Bay Area. If he's not, I highly suggest going and talking to a financial advisor that's connected to a bank that has a presence here - Wells Fargo, in particular, has an awesome infrastructure for homebuyers.

Also, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, MIRACLEBORNS!

In less scary and more happy news, I had my first appointment with my new midwife this morning and heard the baby's heartbeat!

YAY! How many weeks now?

P-C, if memory serves, you have no debt at all and a ton of savings already. Buying a condo is a good idea, so long as you buy in a neighborhood that isn't likely to lose value in the next five years. You can always rent it if decide to move elsewhere. (But don't buy somewhere that is overinflated. Talk to people like Juliana said!)

I bought a condo at age 23 in CT and sold it five years later for a $50K profit. Given that the original asking price was $80K, that wasn't bad. I rolled that into my house...and then lost it all in the divorce. But that's beside the point. I hate that I can't afford to be a homeowner in SoCal. I love the security of owning a home.

That said, it is very expensive, and talking with a financial planner who is not just a mortgage broker is essential. S/he can help you to map out your long-term financial goals and help you to determine how much you actually have to put down and how much you would be spending each month in mortgage, dues, utilities, and the various repairs that always show up.